Laying tool for tongue and grooved flooring



Dec. 25, 1956 'c. R. SAMPLES ,7

LAYING TOOL FOR TONGUE AND GROOVED FLOORING Filed Sept. 2, 1955 FIG. z.

IN V EN TOR. 6094494 ES Q. SA/WQL 5s,

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LAYING TOOL FOR TONGUE AND GROOVED FLOORING Charles R Samples, Akron, Ohio Application September 2, 1955, Serial No. 532,339

2 Claims. (Cl. 147) The present invention relates to a tool usable to .advantage in the laying of flooring of the tongue and grooved type, such as conventional oak or other hardwood flooring.

It is a ditfi-c-ult task, when laying flooring of the type referred to, to press a flooring piece sufiiciently tightly against the forward edge of a previously laid piece to insure that a tight joint will be provided therebetween, and to hold the piece being laid against the previously laid piece while the new piece is being nailed to the subflooring.

Heretofore, means for forcing the piece being laid against the previously laid piece has been provided, but in some instances, said means has been unwieldy, undesirably complex in construction, or not fully elficient .in operation. Obviously, as soon as a piece is laid, there is a necessity for readjusting said means so that it will be able to act upon the next piece that is to be laid, and oftentimes, this is a task requiring an excessive expenditure of time and efiort.

Further, means for laying flooring, that is adapted to force the piece to be laid against a previously laid piece should, most desirably, discharge not only the function of forcing the new piece tightly against the old piece, and of holding the new piece in the position to which it is forced, but also the function of permitting accurate driving of the flooring nail at an angle to the front of the new piece.

The present invention has as its main object the provision of a tool which will accomplish these several functions, and as a more specific object of the invention, it is proposed to provide a tool as stated which will be capable of being positioned in relation to the floor-ing, and removed from position after the nail has been driven, with as much ease and facility as the hammer itself.

Another object is to provide a device as stated which can be formed from a single piece of material, readily 2 cast to the desired shape, and having no relatively movable parts.

Another object is to form a device of the type referred to in a manner such that it will not damage the flooring in any way, when in use.

Another object of importance is to form the device for laying flooring in such a manner as to cause the same,

after it has been rocked to a position in which it will force the flooring piece tightly against a previously laid piece, to hold said flooring piece in the position to which it is forced, while being automatically positioned for facilitating the driving of .a flooring nail into the flooring at a desired angle.

Other objects will appear from the following description, the claims appended thereto, and from the annexed drawing, in which like reference characters designate like parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a view of a tool formed in accordance with the invention partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section, as it appears when in use;

United States Patent Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the tool per se, showing the side opposite that seen in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an edge elevational view of the tool per se, as seen from the right of Figure 2, a driving tool member being removed; and

Figure 4 is a top plan view of the tool, looking downwardly on the tool as it appears in Figure 2.

-At 10 there has been designated conventional subflooring, at 12 a piece of flooring which has previously been laid, and at 13 a piece of flooring which is being laid. The-piece 12 will hereinafter be termed the old piece and the piece 13 the new piece. They are, of course, identical in cross section and as is usual,.each piece is formed along one longitudinal edge thereof with a laterally, outwardly projecting longitudinal tongue 16 adapted to be received in a complementary longitudinal groove 14 formed in the opposite edge of the next adjacent piece.

In laying flooring of this type, the new piece 13 must be forced tightly against the old piece 12, so as to insure a desirably tight joint therebetween. Then, while the new piece is held tightly against the old piece, a nail 18 must be driven at an angle of approximately 45 degrees into the new piece, penetrating the sub-flooring, with said nail entering the new piece at the joint between the upper surface-of the tongue 16 thereof and the longitudinal edge on which the tongue is formed. In the illustrated example, a screw-type flooring nail is illustrated, but

the invention is equally adapted for use ofother types of nails, such as cut nails, etc.

The tool 20 constituting the present invention may be cast' or otherwise formed from a single piece of iron, steel, or the like, and includes an elongated lever handle 22 integrally formed at one end with a straight sleeve 24 the bore 26 of which is disposed at .an angle of vapproximately 45 degrees to the longitudinal center line of the lever handle 22. The sleeve at one end projects laterally, outwardly from the handle :a substa-ntialdistance, while at its other end, the sleeve bore terminates at the lower edge of a cross head 28, said lower edge of the cross head being designated-at 30 and being straight fromend to end thereof, with the lower edge 30 being disposed perpendicularly to the length of the handle 22. The lower edge of the cross head defines a downwardly facing, flat shoulder adapted to engage the upper surtace of the tongue 16 of the new piece in the manner shown in Figure 1, said shoulder being of a width approximately equal to thatof the tongue. Also integrally formed upon the handle, at the lower extremity thereof, are depending, sharply tipped prongs 32 spaced transversely of the handle and lying in a common plane perpendicularto the plane of the downwardly facing shoulder 30 of the cross head. The prongs extend downwardly below the plane of the cross head a distance slightly greater than the distance between the top surface of tongue 16 and the to penetrate the subaflooring 10 when the tool is in use as shown in Figure 1.

Preferably, the prongs are gently curved as at 34 adjacent their tips, on that face of the prongs confronting the tongue I16 of the new piece of flooring '13. Immediately above the curved portions of the prongs, the prongs have straight surfaces 36, terminating at the shoulder 30 of the cross head, the straight surfaces engaging the outer longitudinal edge surface of the tongue I16 when the tool is in use.

Freely slidable in the bore 26 is a driving tool 38, formed as an elongated length of tool steel somewhat greater in length than the bore 26, so as to project at its head end from the bore 26 when the tool is in use. A conventional hammer 40 is used, with the force of jment. with the nail.

mately as in'Figure 1, withsthe handle'ZZ being inclined slightly firorn the vertical, in a direction away from its fully "vertical position shown in Figure 1. The handle 22 at its upper end'has a head '44, and. as a first step, the hammer .is used to apply force to the handle 22 in an axial direction, 'by' blows against the head 4 4, to idrive the prongs into the sub-flooring .for a short distance.

Then, the handle. 22 is rocked in a clockwise direction,

'viewing thesarne as inFigure l, and .the cross head or butt plate. 28 will exert a pressure against the'nezw piece .13, torcing said new .piece. against the old piece 12, the

handle beingin efiect fulcrumed uponthe prongs. When the prongs were originally driven into the sub-flooring, rt-he butt plate, it will be understood, would be already in position against the edge of the new piece 13 with the shoulder 30 overlying the tongue 16.

While maintaining a hold upon the handle, in the position to which the handle was rocked, so as to co-rrespondingly hold the new: piece 13 against theold piece 12, a flooring nail 18 is inserted into the outer end of thebore 26, and will gravitate within said bore to the intersection point between the tongue 16 and the" outer longitudinal edge of the flooring piece 13. Then, the

driving tool"38 is inserted in the position shown in Figure 1,. and blows are directed thereagainst with hammer The driving .tool, it should 40, thus to drive the nail. be noted, hasa rounded nail-engaging end, and thus not only drives .the nail but sets it. Ordinarily, the setting of the nail requires a certain amount ofskill, and often, in setting the nail, one damages the tongue 16 should the nail be missed, or should the nail setislip out of engage- Aceordingly, by use of the tool, hammer marks upon the flooring are eliminated, even when the tool is used by a relatively unskilled person. Further, in every instance the nail is driven into theflooring at a proper angle and at the exact location desired therefor, with the locating of the nail occurring automatically merely by proper positioning of the tool rela Itive to the flooring piece. Still further, a saving. of time results, due to the fact that the three operations of tightening the flooring, drivingthe nail, and then setting the nail,,are combined through the use of a single tool rformed as illustrated and described.

It is believed apparent that the invention is not necessarily confined to the specific use or uses thereof described above,'since itmay be utilized for any purpose to which it-may be suited. Nor is the invention to be necessarily limited to the specific construction illustrated and derscribedysince such construction is only intended to be illustrative of the principles of operation and the-means presently devised to carry out said principles, it being consideredthat the invention comprehends any minor change in. constructionthat may be permitted within the scope oftheappendedclaims.

' What is claimed is:

"1. Ina tool for laying lover a sub-flooring a piece of fiooring of-the'type'ineluding a longitudinal-tongue extending along one side edge of the piece and enga-gea ble in "alongitudinal groove of a previously laid piece: a

- 'wholly rigid member including an elongated, straight handle, across head extending normally to the length of the. handle adjacent one endthereof and forming at one side of the handle a downwardly facing shoulder lying in a plane substantially normal to said length of-the handle for exerting a downward pressure against said tongue, prong means projecting downwardly firom the handle below the shoulder and formed as a longitudinal extension of said one side of the handle, the prong means having a tongue-engaging. surface at one side of the shoulder lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to that of the shoulder, said1prong means, being zsharpenedltor engagement in the sub-flooring to provide a fulcrum about which the handle may rock thus to shifty-the shoulder downwardly against the tongue simultaneously with conjoint, .lateral, movement both of the prong means and cross head for exerting a pressure in .a horizontal direction against the tongue and against said side edge, respectively, of the piece being laid thereby to force said piece against the previously laid piece, and a nail guiding sleeve extending obliquely to the length of the handle and to. said plane and opening downwardly at saidside of the handle through the shoulder at the other side of the shoulder; and a driving tool element slida-bly engaged in the sleeve for driving a nail into the. tongue of the piece being laid.

2. In a tool 'for' laying over a sub-flooring a piece of flooring of the type 'includin-ga longitudinal tongue 'extending along one side edge of'the piece and engageable *in a longitudinal groove. of a previously laid piece; a wholly-"rigidmember including an elongated handle, a

cross'head adjacent oneend of the handle forming at one side ot-the handle a downwardly facing shoulder lying in a plane substantially normal tothel'ength of the handle for-exerting a'downwardly facing shoulder'lying in a planensubstantially normal to the length of the handle for exerting a downwardpressure against said tongue, prong means projecting downwardly from the handle below the shoulder and formed as a longitudinal extension 'ofsaid *one side of the"handle,-the prong means having a tongueenga-ging' surface at one side of "the shoulder lying in a plane substantially perpendicular to that of the shoulder, said prong means being sharpened at itslower extremity for engagement in the sub-flooring to provide a fulcrum-aboutwhich the handle may rock, to shift the shoulder downwardly against 'the tongue about the axis one end at said side of the handle through the-shoulder at the other'side of the shoulder, the nail guide sleeve projecting at its other end outwardlyirom the other side of the handle; and-adriving tool element 'slidably engaged in the sleeve-for driving a nail into the tongue of the piece being laid.

References Cited; in the; file ofvthispatent UNITED STATES PATENTS 91,392 Wheeler June 15, 1869 1,016,383 Wellman Feb. 6, 1912 1,159,963 Landgraf Nov. 9, 1915 1 ,696,781 Phillips Dec. 25, 1928 "1,851,931 Chapman Mar. 29, 1932 2,660,727 Thornton Dec. 1, 1-953 

